在黑暗的海洋深处,生活着大量奇异的物种,不论是深海平原、死火山、还是温度极高的海底热泉喷口,都是它们繁衍生息的地方。海底极端的温度和压力条件并未对这些底栖物种的生存带来影响。但是,商业海底采矿计划却对他们的生存构成了严重威胁。
海洋底部绵延的广阔海床被称作深海平原,这里是鱼类、鳗鱼、甲壳类动物、软体动物、海绵、海参、海星和蛇尾海星等物种的栖息地。
海洋死火山,也被称为“海底山”,是珊瑚和海绵生物生存的“花园”,这里还聚集着甲壳类动物、软体动物和棘皮动物。科学家们在这里发现了800种特有的鱼种,金枪鱼、鲨鱼和海龟等大洋性生物也会时时造访。
在深海热泉喷口生态系统中,已发现500多种海洋生物,包括鱼类、甲壳类动物、管虫、海参、海葵和虾类。其中大多数都是科学界的新发现。
采矿业迫切希望能够开采这里的多金属结核矿。具体来说,就是用类似于坦克的机械牵引“爬行器”将多金属结核从深海平原上刮下来。要开采海底山上的金属结壳,就需要用到其他具有破碎和提取功能的采矿车。开采热泉喷口处的金属硫化物矿床也需要通过压碎的方式进行挖掘。
除了对动物造成的直接伤害,采矿还可能会翻搅起海底沉积物,从而使海绵和珊瑚窒息。迄今为止,人类只探索了5%的深海海床。科学家认为,需要进行更多的研究,从而了解广博的深海生物资源,其对海洋更广泛的重要性,以及采矿可能会产生的影响。
![ghost octopus](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2021/01/ghost-octopus-1.jpg)
![brittle star and coral polyp](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/brittle-star-and-coral-polyp..jpg)
![](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/iridigorgia-hires-1.jpeg)
![](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/1.SoftCora_SquatLobster_associate-1-1140x642-resized-1.jpg)
![Mushroom soft coral with feeding polyps extended on the Davidson Seamount, at 1,470m below. Some deep sea corals can live for several thousand years, making them the oldest organisms on the planet. (NOAA)](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/mushroom-soft-coral2.jpeg)
![batfish](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/batfish-1.jpeg)
![](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/anemone-2.jpeg)
![](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/siphonophore.jpeg)
![Blue and white microbes on a hydrothermal vent in the Pescadero Basin of the Gulf of Mexico. In the absence of sunlight these microbes rely on chemosynthesis to survive. Many organisms, including the scaleworm visible to the right, feed on them. (Schmidt Ocean Institute)](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/microbialMat-scaleworm.jpeg)
![](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/shrimp-1.jpeg)
![A sea cucumber “dancing” at approximately 1,500m depth off Kona, Hawaii. The cucumbers occasionally lift off, apparently to evade predators or move more quickly from A to B. (NOAA)](https://dialogue.earth/content/uploads/2019/02/sea-cucumber-dancing-1.jpeg)